- Title: WHO says 338 killed in eastern Aleppo in past few weeks
- Date: 30th September 2016
- Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (SEPTEMBER 30, 2016) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF UNITED NATIONS BUILDING VARIOUS OF BRIEFING IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) WHO HEAD OF EMERGENCY RISK MANAGEMENT AND HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE, RICK BRENNAN, SAYING: "The situation really is unfathomable. According to health officials there, there have been 338 deaths in the last couple of weeks due to the bombardment, including 106 children. 846 other individuals have been injured, again almost a third children, 261 children." NEWS BRIEFING IN PROGRESS JOURNALISTS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) WHO HEAD OF EMERGENCY RISK MANAGEMENT AND HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE, RICK BRENNAN, SAYING: "Many of them (the injured) have life-threatening injuries and need access to essential health care, so we appeal to those who have the power to make things happen, to let these people out, to get to hospitals where we have worked with health care providers to prepare to receive them and provide them with vital services." JOURNALISTS AT WORK EXTERIOR OF UNITED NATIONS BUILDING
- Embargoed: 15th October 2016 11:34
- Keywords: Syria Aleppo WHO World Health Organization
- Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- City: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Country: France
- Topics: Government/Politics,United Nations
- Reuters ID: LVA00151RCW1Z
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Fighting in Syria's besieged eastern Aleppo has killed 338 people in the past few weeks, including 106 children, and 846 have been wounded, including 261 children, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Friday (September 30).
Russian and Syrian government forces launched a campaign to recapture the rebel-held sector of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city, this month, abandoning a ceasefire a week after it took effect.
"The situation really is unfathomable," the WHO's head of emergency risk management and humanitarian response, Rick Brennan, told a U.N. briefing in Geneva.
Brennan said he did not have details on the kinds of injuries, but it was obvious to expect shrapnel and blast wounds, burns and lost limbs.
"Many of them (the injured) have life-threatening injuries and need access to essential health care, so we appeal to those who have the power to make things happen, to let these people out, to get to hospitals where we have worked with health care providers to prepare to receive them and provide them with vital services," he said.
No hospital was able to take hundreds of patients at a time, Brennan added.
He also said WHO had had supplies for 140,000 people ready for weeks, but the security situation prevented it from taking essential medical equipment into the city.
He said WHO had met Russian officials previously and made it "very, very clear" about the need for evacuations and the need to stop attacks. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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